Weekend Bookworm: A Really Super Hero

05 July 2013 , 9:15 AM by Rob Minshull

A Really Super Hero by Charlotte Lance

There is a theory that toddlers are not particularly gender specific when it comes to the characters in their stories: they can easily identify with the hero or protagonist whether it is a he or a she.

As they grow older, however, young boys are said to find it harder to read stories with a female in the lead role; girls, on the other hand, are supposed to be less bothered.

I remain to be convinced. My seven-year-old daughter will have nothing to do with Ben 10 and those of his ilk; Batman, Iron Man, the Hulk and Superman might as well have stayed two-dimensional cartoons for all the interest I have failed to generate in the new action-packed Hollywood blockbusters; and we only got to watch Fantastic Four because Sue Storm was one of the heroes. (She was my favourite too but I suspect it was more to do with Jessica Alba than the character herself.) Stories about fairies and princesses continue as the order of the day.

It was, therefore, with great pleasure that we discovered this beautiful new book by the Melbourne-based writer and illustrator Charlotte Lance. Although a mother to two boys (yuk!), with A Really Super Hero, Charlotte Lance has created a quirky, brave and gorgeous girl who uses her ingenuity, patience and courage to confirm her superhero status.

"I want to be a heroand a REALLY SUPER one,so my Mum sewed my undieswith an S upon the bum."

A four-lined stanza per page delightfully follows our budding superhero as things get off to a poor start and do not quite go according to plan. Could it all be Mum's fault?

"She tried to sew it straight,but it turned out all askew,so in my own hero styleI sideways sort of flew."

Despite her best efforts at mind control, catching crooks, mixing magic potions, rescuing shipwrecked sailors and, of course, soaring the sky like a bird, our superhero never quite succeeds. But, more importantly, she never stops trying.

"I want to mix a potion to make me super strong, so when there's hero business the fighting won't take long.

I try to cook one up, but I make a thickish cloud.Now my eyebrows are quite crispy, and the alarm is sort of loud."

A Really Super Hero is a beautiful book; it is wonderfully warm and simply oozes fun. Charlotte Lance's lightly drawn pencil illustrations are in gorgeous detail and capture the character perfectly.

Just one criticism: once again it is Mum who is constantly in the background, who cooks and cleans and takes our superhero to task. How about a shout for all the many Dads who perform these slightly less than heroic roles? We can be super too you know!